Are there portable satellite radio receivers?October 10, 2004 9:36 AMSubscribe

What with all the brouhaha over Howard Stern's move to saltellite radio, I've become interested in this service. But I listen to music almost exclusively on-the-go. So I'd only subscribe if I could listen on an iPod-like device. Are there any small, portable satellite radio receivers? I tried Googling, but I'm too ignorant about receivers to understand the results.posted by grumblebee to Technology (9 answers total)

Do you mean like walk-man style where you can walk around with headphones? If so, I searched around earlier this week wanting the same thing with no avail. The problem is none of the satellite receivers I found use batteries; they have to be plugged into a power source as of now. Hopefully somebody else here has found something better!posted by jmd82 at 9:52 AM on October 10, 2004

Yeah, that's what I want. If they don't exist, I guess Sirius won't be getting my $12 a month. I'm sure they're weeping about that.posted by grumblebee at 10:10 AM on October 10, 2004

Well, it's somewhat possible, but I XM radios really prefer "open space". Shoving an XM antenna in your pocket would probably let it still work (I've completely covered my XM radio antenna with my hand and it still works), however, turning an XM radio antenna upside down would probably cause it to quit working.

In the more urban areas where repeaters are installed, a portable XM radio would be much more practicable. However, in a smaller city, I think you would find reception in a portable device very spotty.

Just my 2 cents. I would be happy to see a walkman XM radio, though I feel it wouldn't be as good as an FM radio for ease of use for that form factor.posted by shepd at 10:26 AM on October 10, 2004

You might look into something like this. Give it a few months, and there will probably be a StreamRipper for XM, allowing you to automagically capture songs off of XM and transfer them to your ipod.posted by gd779 at 11:04 AM on October 10, 2004

Oops, Howard Stern is on Sirius, not on XM. My bad - maybe there's a similar solution for Sirius?posted by gd779 at 11:04 AM on October 10, 2004

gd779, Sirius already offers their internet radio service "free" with a subscription. If you go to the sirius website you can get 3 days of their internet radio for free.posted by shepd at 11:32 AM on October 10, 2004

There's already a ripper for the XM PCR: TimeTrax. The PCR has been discontinued and goes for huge amounts on eBay.posted by johnnydark at 6:38 PM on October 10, 2004

How is the PCR discontinued? It's still listed on xmradio.com and everything? I was planning to get one. What up?posted by ac at 6:59 PM on October 10, 2004

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